Anonymity
by Sparkly Boo
Summary: It was when she was on the brink of death that he realized what she had meant to him.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Anonymity**

**Summary: It was when she was on the brink of death that he realized what she had meant to him.**

**Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Naruto.**

**Dedicated to my best friends, Ema and Angela.**

**Special thanks to my beta, Alice [nightserenade].**

Chapter One

"… And that concludes my mission summary, Tsunade-sama," the pink-haired Jounin said, bowing her head respectfully.

"Very good work, Sakura," the Godaime praised, a proud smile on her face. She dismissed the kunoichi, but immediately called her back when her gaze fell upon the mission scroll lying on her messy desk. The smile quickly morphed into a frown.

"Yes?" Sakura asked, her hand slipping from the doorknob, and walked back towards the Hokage. She regarded her Master curiously, knitting her thin eyebrows together in confusion. "Is something the matter?"

Tsunade sighed and laced her hands together calmly. "I know that it was a difficult mission and you must want some relaxing time," she began, her grimace deepening with every word, "but I'm sending some ANBU members on a dangerous assassination mission, and currently, you're the only available medic-nin in Konoha. If we wait for another medic to come back from their mission, we might miss our chance."

Sakura visibly relaxed as she smiled slightly, trying to hide the exhaustion by standing up straighter. "I'll be happy to accept this mission," she said as she took the mission scroll from the Godaime's hand.

"If after you read the mission summary you find that you can't go through with it, I'll understand and wait for another medic to come back," Tsunade mumbled, averting her golden eyes. The kunoichi narrowed her own, once again perplexed by her Master's words and actions. Sakura knew Tsunade wasn't one to mumble, and sure wasn't one to excuse a ninja from a mission just because they weren't _comfortable_ with it. With these baffling thoughts in mind, she excused herself and swiftly ran home, wanting to read over the summary in the privacy of her own apartment.

The medic found that Tsunade-sama was right about one thing after all. She didn't even get to the second sentence before promptly falling fast asleep.

* * *

With a start, Sakura woke up.

Realizing that it was dawn and she was supposed to meet the ANBU members at the front gate by 5:00 A.M., she cursed and started throwing random weapons and clothes into her pack. Having fallen asleep yesterday with her shinobi clothes on, she ran out briskly as soon as she was done securing the kunai holster on her thigh, only to have to run back to lock her door.

Not wanting to keep the ANBU shinobi waiting any longer than she already had, Sakura sprinted from her apartment, which was located near the south gate, to the main gate in a record-breaking time of five minutes. Huffing, she went up to the captain to apologize for her tardiness, only to pleasantly find out that none of them were irritated at her.

"Tsunade-sama already explained your case to us, and warned us that you were undoubtedly going to sleep in from your enervating mission. It's alright, Haruno-san," the captain reassured Sakura warmly. "You have no problems concerning the mission?"

There it was again, that befuddling question. Even if she had read the scroll (not that she would be telling the captain any different), what problems could possibly arise from an ANBU assassination mission? Though, it wasn't a normal one, as Sakura counted a staggering number of ten ANBU in the area. Including her, the medic, there were a total of eleven shinobi assigned to kill one person.

"Of course not," Sakura replied politely, laughing slightly to hide her embarrassment.

"Good. Then, you'll have no problems with us killing him." By now, Sakura really wanted to know who exactly this "_him"_ was, but of course, she couldn't ask. "That reminds me," he began, motioning towards a female ANBU. She brought him a small set of the regulation ANBU wear, complete with an additional black cloak with a hood and a white cat mask. "This is for you to remain anonymous within the group. We can't have our medic injured," he explained, taking the clothes and handing them to Sakura. "You can go change behind those trees. We'll leave once you're done."

She accepted the clothes, trying to hide the giggles that were just bursting to escape. The end result was a maniacal grin, but Sakura didn't care. She was an ANBU!

Okay, not quite. But still. Wearing ANBU clothes? That was as close as being an ANBU as this Jounin was ever getting. _'Hah, wait until Naruto hears about this,' _the pink-haired kunoichi thought gleefully as she stripped herself quickly and donned on the black shirt and pants. Even though she didn't really need it, since she wasn't going to fight, she put on the gray chest armor and metal arm guards. She left out the black gloves that went up to her elbows, opting for her own leather ones. The special ninja sandals with spikes that were only meant for ANBU to wear would have to go, too, since they were two sizes too large, and would thus hinder her mobility. Putting on the cloak, Sakura noticed with annoyance that it was much too large for her, and draped on the ground like some half-wit curtain. Actually, the whole uniform was much too large for her, and she cursed bad genes. Slipping on the cat mask (which, of course, was just a tad bit too loose), she pulled her pink hair back into a tight ponytail and lifted the hood up to cover her hair and forehead.

Of course, her disguise had flaws, too. If the enemy looked closely at her, they would be able to tell that she was only parading as an ANBU, since she had no tattoo, and instead of three pouches on her back-waist, she only had two. But it would have to do.

Stepping out into the open, Sakura felt a sense of adrenaline course through her veins as she grinning stupidly again behind her mask.

'_This guy is going down,' _Sakura thought, smiling as she set off with the ANBU.

* * *

Even though Sakura had a tough time keeping up with the ANBU - what, with the cloak acting up and tripping the poor girl every ten minutes - they reached their destination in half a day, which surprised the pink-haired medic a bit, since they were at the outskirts of Sound, a distance that would have normally taken her a whole day. The ANBU members piled around the cave restlessly, anxious for night to come. The target's hideout was a good kilometer away, but the squad leader had insisted on staying far from it, warning them that if they got too close, the target would most likely be alerted of their presence, and then the ambush would be completely futile.

'_Must be some strong guy for the ANBU to be so cautious,' _Sakura thought aimlessly as she shivered slightly in the damp cave. Even though wearing the ANBU uniform was cool, the kunoichi couldn't help but wish for her mesh undershirt back. The ANBU clothes were meant for easy traveling and fighting, not enduring the frozen hell that was a cave. Even the cloak, which Sakura had at first thought was thick, was a thin imitation, meant to disguise, and could be thrown away easily in the midst of a battle if need be.

The captain, noticing Sakura's displeasure, took a break from sharpening his sword to perfection with a rock to place a hand comfortingly on the female shinobi's shoulder. "We won't be staying here for long. We're setting out tonight, and if we're lucky, we'll be reporting back to Konoha tomorrow with one of the most formidable missing-nin's head in tow," he assured.

Although a bit embarrassed that the captain could see her dissatisfaction, she couldn't help the curiosity that bubbled within her. "If we're lucky?" she repeated, asking for clarification.

A dark veil seemed to shroud his eyes, and Sakura vaguely wondered if she had somehow stumbled onto dangerous territory.

"He's escaped us three times now. He's just too powerful for a team of four ANBU to take down. Luckily, we've never had any casualties in the past," another ANBU, who had heard the whole conversation, explained.

"So, this time…" she began, not seeing the need to finish her sentence, as the two ANBU beside her nodded.

"We have him cornered."

"Let's review the plan once more," the squad leader said, motioning for all the ANBU to come. As proposed earlier, Sakura would stay back while the ANBU charged forward in the dead of the night to ambush the target. If they got him, they would meet up with Sakura and let her heal their injuries before heading back to Konoha. If they failed, they would send Sakura and the injured back to Konoha for emergency back-up while the rest of the ANBU kept an eye on him.

After waiting a few hours, the birds finally quieted down and night cascaded over the skies. The plan, however, had to be changed when the first drops of rain fell down from the overcast clouds, morphing quickly into a full-blown out thunderstorm. If they succeeded in the mission, the captain would send up a red flare, signaling for Sakura to come to where the flare was. If they weren't back within a hour, the squad leader advised the medic to flee to the cave and send for immediate back-up from Konoha via a messenger bird.

Readjusting her mask one last time, Sakura set out with the rest of the ANBU. The rain made it hard for her to see barely three feet in front of her as she stumbled precariously from one tree branch to another. It didn't help that she winced and slipped a little whenever lightning crashed down with thunder rumbling behind it. She never did like thunderstorms.

When the captain raised a hand towards her, she nodded and hid among some bushes. The rain came down in sheets, and the kunoichi hugged the cloak tighter around herself, wishing for the first time that she was back in the cave. Or on the frontlines fighting. It was easier to forget herself amongst a battle, where landing a chakra-enhanced fist on the opponent was the first and only thing on her mind. Worrying about her drenched clothes would come later. Sakura's hiding spot was too far from the target's hideout, so she couldn't sense a thing. She didn't know whether the ANBU were winning or losing, and that thought unnerved her, but she shook it off. It wouldn't do for her to distrust in their abilities.

She was jerked away from her thoughts when a distant flare appeared in the sky, the sound muffled by the rain pounding in her ears and the bright spark outshined by the lightning. The shinobi took off, her muscles a bit stiff from crouching for so long.

It came as a bewilderment when she almost barreled into a bedraggled ANBU team, most of them limping and bleeding heavily. With widened eyes, she looked around, assessing their injuries with a brief sweep, noting that none of them were fatally wounded and on the brink of death.

"What happened?" Sakura asked, her breath raspy from astonishment. "The flare… Didn't you guys get him?"

The captain shook his head as he continued running, cradling his left arm, which had a large gash on it. The weapon used to pierce his skin was most likely poisoned, seeing that the slash was slowly turning a sickening shade of violet. "They were waiting for us. They knew about our plan," he whispered, his voice cracking.

"They?" Apprehension rolled around her gut. The mission had gone terribly, terribly wrong.

"There were four, including him. They were all too skilled, too powerful for us to take on. Before we knew it, they had already taken down half of the ANBU. We immediately retreated, but they're pursuing us. It's only a matter of time before they catch up. The red flare you saw… It must have been a trap to lure you out." With that, the captain fell down. His chakra was too low and the poison was spreading too quickly. As they had been trained, the rest of the ANBU didn't even spare a backwards look as they charged forward. It was better to sacrifice one and not ten.

Sakura, however, was never trained as an ANBU, and stopped to help the captain. She reached into her medical pouch and got ready to extract enough poison from his injury to allow him to walk again.

"Don't bother… I'm done for," the captain protested, an unsteady hand reaching out to deny her access to his arm.

"I'm the medic," she replied, her hands already glowing a green hue. "I _need_ to heal you. Or else I'll be completely useless." His hand fell to his side as he allowed Sakura to extract the poison painfully. The procedure was almost done when the captain's pupils dilated in horror.

"HARUNO-SAN! BEHIND YOU!"

She whipped her head backwards reflexively, and bit back a terrified scream. A sword with the undeniable stench of blood coating it gleamed dangerously near her neck. The blade quivered slightly and advanced towards her. She heard the captain trying to get up to help her from her predicament, but Sakura knew that he wouldn't be able to stand for another fifteen minutes. If she had to choose between her life and an ANBU captain's life, she would undoubtedly choose his life over hers, and so with that thought in mind, she decided to run away and lure the opponent away from the squad leader.

Summoning the last reserves of chakra to her feet, she lunged at him. Their bodies tumbled in the muddy ground, and they rolled a safe distance away from the injured squad leader. Panting heavily, the female shinobi reached shakily for a kunai, but stopped short when the sword was back at her throat again, the tip piercing into her delicate skin and drawing blood.

"Your name." His voice rang faraway bells, but she had no time to immerse herself in past memories. Not when her imminent death was so close that she could almost touch it.

"W-what?" she mentally cursed herself for the cowardice that was positively _dripping_ from her voice. If she was going to die, she was going to die honorably. A death that would make her Jounin status proud.

"Your name. Tell me your name." His face was shrouded by the darkness, but the pink-haired kunoichi could hear a harshness in his voice tinged with just a bit of excitement. Gulping, she held her ground, glaring back as fiercely as she could muster. The ANBU captain had warned her not to reveal her name in any situation.

"No." Even the kunoichi herself was surprised at how cold her tone was.

"You leave me no choice then. I highly doubt you're her anyway…" Before she could ask him what he meant by his statement, a cold metal stabbed her body, running all the way through her lungs. Widening her emerald orbs in shock, it took her brain seconds to recognize the pain. Screaming in agony, her body fell limp to the group when he yanked his blade out of her body. A paroxysm seized her as warm blood spewed out of the gaping wound. Coughing out blood, lightning struck again, and she got a good look at her perpetrator as he turned and walked away.

Eyes as red as the blood that was rapidly spilling everywhere from her own body.

_Missing-nin…_

_If after you read the mission summary you find that you can't go through with it, I'll understand and wait for another medic to come back…._

_No problems concerning the mission…_

_You'll have no problems with us killing him…_

_Don't say your name…_

_Sharingan…_

All the pieces of the puzzles seemed to click at that moment.

"Sasuke…" Coughing up a clot of blood, the lax mask fell off with the continuously pouring rain and sloshed in the mud. Her hood slipped down and the hair tie slipped off, unraveling pink hair.

The victim laid there, her own blood dying her hair red. Tears fell as she closed her eyes for the last time.

Sasuke had run his blade through her.

Sasuke had tried to kill her.

Sasuke was once again leaving her.

Sakura.

* * *

**Author Note: I swear, this looked longer when I wrote it.**

**Without my beta-reader, this story would have been crap. Literally. I had so many mistakes. THANK YOU, ALICE. Go read her stories. They're better than mine.**

**Next Chapter: Two Weeks (If I put my deadline online for everyone to see, then I won't be able to procrastinate. Probably.)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: Anonymity**

**Summary: It was when she was on the brink of death that he realized what she had meant to him.**

**Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Naruto.**

**Dedicated to my best friends, Ema and Angela.**

Chapter Two

"Man, I'm hungry. I wish Juugo would hurry up and bring us back some food," Suigetsu complained airily, waving around his empty water bottle. "I'm all beat from yesterday's fight. If only you had let us kill them, Sasuke. It would have been much easier to chop off their heads instead of leaving them half-dead," he continued to rant, ignoring the warning looks his red-headed teammate sent his way.

"Suigetsu! Shut up!" Karin hissed, pointing towards a sleeping Sasuke. "You'll wake him up! You know how grumpy he is when-". She was cut off when Sasuke abruptly woke up, his head nearly colliding with Karin's. "Oh, Sasuke!" Karin's menacing tone immediately became soothing and girly. "I was just telling Suigetsu not to wake you…" Her voice faltered again when she realized the raven-haired man wasn't even paying attention to her. Huffing grumpily, she got up from her spot on the floor and went to sit on a chair. "Juugo better come back soon," Karin said, seething.

As if on cue, the door slammed open with a crash of lightning, revealing a dripping Juugo. He shuffled awkwardly towards the only bed in the cramped room, and laid something down on it.

"What'cha got there, Juugo? Food?" Suigetsu asked hopefully, peering over his teammate's broad shoulder. He instantly broke out into hysterical laughter when he saw what it was. "Hey, Sasuke, come check this out!" Suigetsu managed to get out in-between laughs. "Big guy over here brought the enemy right into our base!"

Alarmed, Karin jumped up from her seat, ready for battle, only to sigh and slump back into her chair as she saw how much the enemy's blood was already staining the floor near the bed. "He's obviously not going to live for much longer,"she grumbled, annoyed with her teammates. "And, really, what were you thinking, Juugo? You should've just let him die, seeing that now we're encumbered with the extra burden of having to bury him later," she chided, clicking her tongue.

"It's a girl," Juugo mumbled gruffly, laying a blanket softly on her barely breathing form.

"I can't tell with that freaking cat mask on her face. But, male, female, what does it matter? She's about to die anyway," Karin retorted, waving her hand around nonchalantly.

"I'm curious," Suigetsu began, a wide grin splitting his face, "on how _you_ know it's a girl, Juugo."

Reddening a bit, Juugo managed to stammer out, "Her mask was on the ground when I found her, and I just fastened it back on her face when I carried her back."

"Do you have a crush on the little ANBU chick?" Suigetsu asked, prodding the bigger man with his elbow. He took Juugo's deepening blush as an affirmative to his question.

"Suigetsu! Juugo! Now isn't the time to play around!" Karin lectured. "Anyway, what should we do about her, Sasuke?"

From his vantage point, Sasuke could clearly see the diminutive body on the mattress, and he narrowed his black eyes as he noticed it was the same ANBU member he had struck with his Kusanagi last night.

'_HARUNO-SAN! BEHIND YOU!' _

He couldn't be sure over the pouring rain…

But maybe he hadn't misheard after all…

"Juugo," Sasuke drawled, drawing the attention of all three people in the room. "Remove her mask."

A hollow pang resounded from within Sasuke's body as the mask was slid off, revealing sickly pale skin and blood-covered pink locks. Widening his obsidian orbs that betrayed despair of the rawest form, he stumbled towards the bed, pushing through Juugo, Suigetsu, and Karin. He collapsed at the foot of the bed, his knees now drenched with her blood.

"Why…" Sasuke whispered, his voice rough with emotion. The back of his hand brushed her blood-caked cheek softly.

'_Why were you there?'_

'_Why are you an ANBU?'_

'_Why are you the one that I tried to kill?'_

'_Why did it have to be you?'_

'_SAKURA!'_

"Karin," Sasuke called out, a little above a whisper.

"Y-Yeah?" she stammered, confused with his actions, but walked towards him nonetheless.

"Heal her." His eyes were still trained on the unmoving body on the comforter.

"… E-Excuse me?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was he actually telling her to save the enemy? It couldn't be.

"Heal her. Can you do that?" This time, he turned around, facing Karin, and the redhead almost did a double take. The sorrow and anguish palpable in those dark, dark eyes was too overwhelming for her to bear.

'_Just who is this girl to Sasuke?'_

"I'll try my best." Karin gulped and slid her sleeve up, revealing permanent bite marks, and waved her arm in front of the female's face a couple of times. "It won't work if she doesn't bite down and absorb my chakra," Karin stated matter-of-factly, dropping the sleeve.

"I thought you could also heal like those medics do," Suigetsu hinted, smirking.

"I was about to do that next," Karin replied stiffly, glaring openly at the white-haired male.

"Of course you were," Suigetsu muttered under his breath, but it was intentionally loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

Ignoring her teammate's snide remark, Karin laid her glowing hands right above the girl's injury. Even though her abilities as a medic were nothing to boast about, she could tell that this was no flesh wound, and even if she depleted her chakra (which she had no intention of doing), she was still going to die. She turned her head towards Sasuke, about to tell him it was completely hopeless to heal her, when she froze. The azure hue died from her hands, and she quickly activated the jutsu again, keeping her red eyes trained on the wound as she tried to reorganize her scrambled thoughts.

She had seen it.

She had definitely not imagined it.

That single drop of water sliding down his cheek.

Sasuke had shed a tear for this girl.

'_Just who are you?'_

"Sasuke. This isn't going to work. I don't have enough chakra to heal her. She's going to…" Karin stopped short when a hand was placed on top of hers and she realized with a start that no, he wasn't trying to comfort her for her lack of ability, but rather save the girl by channeling his chakra into her healing jutsu. Even though her chakra sensing wasn't turned on, she could make out the distinct current of feelings that came rushing with his chakra.

_Grief…_

_Distress…_

_Torment…_

_Passion…_

…

_And was that just a hint of love?_

Karin shook her head, ridding the troubling thoughts. Sasuke wouldn't love such anyone besides her.

'… _Would he?'_

Eventually, with the help of Suigetsu and Juugo, the wound closed, and the girl's life was snatched from the hands of Death.

All three members of Team Hebi fell asleep due to exhaustion, and the last thing Karin saw before she shut her eyes was Sasuke holding the girl's hand, still kneeling besides the bed.

* * *

Karin woke up to the smell of cooked fish, and rubbing her eyes, she took the fish on the stick offered by Juugo. "Where's Sasuke?" she asked after gulping down the fish in three bites.

Juugo wordlessly pointed towards the bed.

Sasuke hadn't moved the whole night.

* * *

Sakura's finger twitched slightly, and she tried to frown when she noticed pressure on her hand, only to cringe when the muscle protested viciously from lack of use. Cracking one hazy emerald eye open, she squinted at the ceiling.

'_This doesn't look like my bedroom or the hospital… Just where am I?'_

Remembering about the pressure on her hand, she glared downwards, when midnight black hair came into her peripheral vision. She knew of only one person to have that kind of hair.

Memories came rushing back to her foggy head.

_ANBU assassination mission…_

_Terribly, terribly wrong…_

_Sword…_

_Stabbing…_

_Blood…_

_Red…_

'_SHARINGAN!'_

With a jolt, the pink-haired kunoichi jerked her hand away, waking him up. Shaking in fear, she tried to get up from the bed, but failed when her muscles refused to comply and gasped in pain.

"You shouldn't try to move." Sakura all but froze when she heard his voice. Turning her head reluctantly to the right, she came face to face with him for the first time in three years.

Sasuke.

Screaming in horror, she managed to find the strength to back up against the wall, trying to distance herself from him. Panting heavily, she clutched one fist to her chest, and the other splayed out in front of her, as if to protect herself.

"Don't come any closer!" the pink-haired kunoichi begged, panic in her eyes. Sasuke knit his eyebrows together, confused. His teammates soon ran to his side, puzzled by the scream they heard.

"What's wrong? The chick woke up?" Suigetsu asked, scrutinizing Sakura.

"She must be crazy," huffed Karin, readjusting her glasses.

Sakura stared at the four apprehensively, and screamed again when Sasuke tried to reach out to her. Frustrated, he left the house, and the sound of toppling trees soon filled the vicinity. Suigetsu and Juugo went out to calm him down, and left Karin alone with Sakura.

Karin glared daggers at the smaller girl, wondering _what the heck _Sasuke saw in her for him to save her.

"I can't believe he stayed by your bed for a whole week, waiting for you to wake up, just so you could scream bloody murder when you saw him," the redhead muttered under her breath spitefully.

Sakura only continued to stare at the door tensely where he had exited.

* * *

With the scent of grilled fish wafting to her nose, Sakura's stomach growled involuntarily. Earlier, she had refused the food offered to her by Sasuke by slapping it out of his hand, and now, she was paying for it.

"Here. I thought you might be hungry," a gruff voice said, snapping her out of her reverie. She glanced up at the immense man before fixedly looking back at the fish, her stomach growling once again. Snatching it from his hand hastily, she murmured a quick thanks before devouring it in four bites. Juugo smiled slightly at the petite girl's appetite, and wanted to continue talking to her, but froze when he felt two furious Sharingan ingrained on his back. Knowing he would be only digging his grave if he continued talking to Sakura, he walked away from her, and sat down near the fire where more fish were being roasted.

All eyes were on the Uchiha when he grabbed a fish and approached Sakura, handing her a fish casually. She narrowed her eyes and seethed, promptly smacking the fish out of his hand once again, even though her stomach protested.

More innocent trees fell.

And Karin was positively livid.

'_Why does Sasuke even put up with her?'_

* * *

**Oops, I missed my deadline by a month.**

**Sorry.**

**This wasn't beta'd, so excuse any mistakes you find.**


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